Richard Curwen

Richard Curwen was an ordained Catholic priest. In 1537, he was sent to hear Robert Aske's confession as he was about to be executed for his role in leading the Pilgrimage of the Grace, and he swore to not betray Aske's trust. Aske confessed that he would be forced to beg forgiveness from King Henry VIII and his chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, and that Cromwell's insistence that all northerners were traitors hurt his soul. Aske said that he would be forced to beg for Cromwell's pardon if he wanted for his wife and family to be unharmed, and Aske told Curwen that he could not find solace; he would instead weep before being brought into God's hands. However, he told Curwen to take a jewel stitched in his collar, and he told Curwen that Lady Mary of England (the King's daughter) had given it to him, and instructed him to give it to his wife to console her.